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London John Murray, 1857. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A fabulous full Spanish calf with gilt raised bands, triple labels (including the volume number bottle green rondelles) and elegant gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within a double fillet and corner tools. Gilt dentelles. With the binder's ticket of Willis and Sotheran. With the armorial bookplate of Edward Nicholas Hurt. A stunning set in pristine condition.

London: Robinson, 1786. Full calf, 10 1/2 inches tall. A splendid copy of this scarce work from the library of the Earls of Londonderry at Wynyard Park in full 18th century calf with gilt bands in the Etruscan key style, red label and blue edges. Complete with folding map and 18 plates. A remarkable volume with splendid provenance.

Paris: L. Curmer, 1861. Full morocco, 13.25 inches tall. An extraordinary binding by Riviere with gilt titles to the spine and both boards and extraordinary blind tooling to the panels, boards and doublures. Vellum endpapers. All edges gilt. This is the text volume, red ruled throughout, and is offered WITHOUT the Plates. In 'Fine and Historic Bookbindings from the Folger Shakespeare Library', published in 1992 a very similar binding is described and illustrated (page 222, item 14:5). It is described as 'a Pastiche of a 16th Century Panel-Stamped Binding by Riviere and Son, c.1881'.

London & Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1861. 7 volume set, 9 inches tall. A simple very handsome full calf by Zaehnsdorf with wide gilt raised bands, framed panels and a series of 6 gilt fillets framing the boards. Dentelles and top edge gilt. An ink inscription, dated 1906, on the first blank. Charles Forbes René de Montalembert wrote his great work 'Moines d'occident' in 1860 and this is the authorised English translation, published the following year. He wrote in a style at once picturesque, fiery and polished while his mastery of the Middle Ages was tempered by his religious sentiments.

Augsburg (Augustae Vindelicorum): Sumptibus ignatii adami & Francisci Antonii Veith, 1759. 6 volume set, 14.5 inches tall. Full vellum, dating from the middle of the 18th century with gilt tooled labels and unusual pink and green edges. The Codex Regularum, created in Aachen in 817, was designed by Benedict to restore the strict observation of monastic life which had been relaxed over recent centuries. Complete sets in contemporary bindings are scarce. There is some scuffing and staining to the vellum, in particular at the tails of each volume but there is no splitting and the bindings are in excellent condition. 2 bookplates. In the original Latin.

Edinburgh: Printed by Adrian Watkins, 1748. Full Calf, 5 1/2 inches tall. A delightful little volume with an elaborate gilt tooled design incorporating the 'Scottish wheel' on both boards, gilt raised bands, finely gilt tooled panels and all edges gilt. The joints are rubbed and worn, the headcap is lacking, but still solid. With splendid Dutch 18th century embossed gilt endpapers. Curiously the text in this volume begins in the Book of Proverbs and continues with the rest of the Old Testament before continuing with the whole of the New Testament. I assume this is to bulk the volume out for the convenience of the bookbinder.

Delft et Leiden: Beman et Samuel Luchtmans, 1729. Full morocco, 8.5 inches tall. A glorious binding by Clarke & Bedford with gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling around a pomegranate centre tool, dentelles quadruple gilt fillet framing the boards. All edges gilt over marble. Engraved frontispiece and title page. A superb copy of these dialogues on many and various subjects, hugely influential on Christian Humanists, by the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance. In the original Latin.

La Haye (The Hague): Adrian Moetjens, 1682. 2 volumes bound in 1, 5.5 inches tall. A beautiful late 19th century full straight grain calf with raised bands, extra gilt panels and very fine and ornate gilt tooling to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Watered silk doublures and free endpapers. From the Robert J. Hayhurst collection. In the original French.

London: Rivingtons, 1885. 2 volume set, 8.5 inches tall. A rather magnificent full calf with gilt raised bands, triple labels and extra gilt panels. The boards are framed within gilt and blind panels. Git dentelles and all edges. Prize bookplate and gilt embossed motto on the boards. The finisher has labeled volume I as volume II and vice versa. A lovely set of this celebrated history.

Oxford: University Press, 1800. Full crushed morocco, 9 inches tall. An elegant, simple binding attributed, on an ancient tipped in catalogue slip, to (Charles) Clarke. Some speckling to the boards, foxing to the preliminaries and offsetting from the plates but overall a superb copy. With raised bands, the armorial devices of the great bibliophile Theodore Williams and all edges gilt. With 7 engraved plates, 2 folding and 3 folding plates of 'Pedigrees'.

London: Cassell & Company, c.1875. Full calf, 10.5 inches tall. A most impressive 'divinity' calf binding with gilt raised bands and aldine leaf centre tools and prize block on the upper board. With typical blind tooled panels and boards and red edges. Prize bookplate on paste down endpaper. Slightly rubbed and with a little foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise in excellent condition. A well illustrated edition of this classic life of Christ.

Paris: Curmer, 1858. 2 volume set, 10.5 inches tall. A simple but pleasing mid 19th century full vellum with gilt bands, dentelles and all edges gilt. Each page decorated with wide lithographic borders. With the gilt stamp of 'Schafer of Piccadilly', purveyors of luxury items. A fine set of this classic Christian guide based on the monastic practice of devotional reading by the 'Gentleman Saint'.

London: Fellowes 1861-1864. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A most handsome 'prize' full calf binding with gilt raised bands, splendid twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. The boards have gilt prize devices within twin gilt and single blind fillets. Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby school, Historian and Educator who famously stated "boys at a public school never will learn to speak or pronounce French well, under any circumstances". He was also father of Matthew Arnold.

Chiswick: The Caradoc Press, 1901. Full vellum, 5 1/2 inches tall. A delightful little volume printed and bound by H.D. and H.G. Webb in full vellum with gilt lettering on the spine and device on the upper board. The edges of the hand made paper has been left deckled. Every page has an ornate initial in black or red. There is an ink inscription on the second blank.

London: John Murray, 1841. 3 volume set, 8.75 inches tall. A neat simple early Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt centre tools. Pink speckled edges. Bookplate and library stamp on title page (with withdrawn stamp). Foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise clean. A good looking set of this celebrated history.

Edinburgh: Oliphant, 1838. 4 volume set, 6.5 inches tall. A scarce work finely bound with gilt raised bands and extra gilt floral panels. The Bookplate of the Hayhurst Collection. A neat ink inscription on the first blank dated 1839. Each volume is embellished with an engraved frontispiece and title page.

London: J. Budd, 1807-1808. Half calf, 8 1/4 inches tall. A charming Georgian binding in half speckled calf with twin gilt pallets, pink label and blue speckled edges. With the bookplate of M. General Sir Charles Stewart of Wynyard Park. A pristine copy of Smith's rather belligerent views on Catholicism.

London: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1847. Full Calf, 4 3/4 inches tall. A Superb embossed binding with blind bands, gilt title and blind tooling to the panels and elaborate blind embossed tooling to the boards. All edges gilt. An ink inscription to Lucy Hanson, dated 1847, on the first blank.

London: Joseph Masters, 1853. Full calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A classic divinity or Oxford binding from the middle of the 19th century with inked raised bands, pallets, centre tools to the panels and inked tooling to the boards. Pink edges. Red ruled throughout. Owners name pasted to the endpaper and written on the first blank. Contains the Sacraments and the Psalms of David. Slightly rubbed, but still a charming example of this style.

London: Joseph Masters, 1869. Full morocco, 5 inches tall. A delightful little binding with two gilt raised bands, either end of the title and name, presumably of the original owner. There is dense and fine gilt tooling to the spine at the head and tail. The boards are framed with triple fillets and corner tools. GIlt dentelles and all edges.